United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR) Shares Purchased by Seizert Capital Partners LLC

Key Points

• Seizert Capital Partners LLC significantly increased its stake in United Therapeutics Corporation by 203.3%, acquiring an additional 81,752 shares and holding a total of 121,970 shares, valued at approximately $37.6 million.
• Insider trading activity saw EVP Paul A. Mahon selling 11,000 shares worth over $3 million, leading to a 23.02% decrease in his ownership, while Director Richard Giltner also reduced his stake by 13.54% with a sale of 3,036 shares.
• United Therapeutics' stock performance has been fluctuating, with a recent drop to $281.95, and the company reported earnings of $6.41 per share, missing estimates and reflecting a 11.7% revenue increase year-over-year.

Seizert Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:UTHR - Free Report) by 203.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 121,970 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 81,752 shares during the period. Seizert Capital Partners LLC owned 0.27% of United Therapeutics worth $37,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in United Therapeutics by 36.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,471,405 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $519,170,000 after buying an additional 393,777 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in United Therapeutics by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,138,292 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $401,184,000 after buying an additional 44,277 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in United Therapeutics by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 975,444 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $344,176,000 after buying an additional 7,710 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in United Therapeutics by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 709,043 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $250,179,000 after buying an additional 157,363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its position in United Therapeutics by 20.8% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 518,450 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $159,823,000 after buying an additional 89,290 shares in the last quarter. 94.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at United Therapeutics

In other United Therapeutics news, Director Richard Giltner sold 3,036 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.60, for a total transaction of $879,225.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 19,384 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,613,606.40. This represents a 13.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO James Edgemond sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.37, for a total value of $3,904,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,641,353.66. The trade was a 59.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 70,681 shares of company stock worth $21,318,359 over the last three months. 10.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

United Therapeutics Stock Up 7.1%

Shares of UTHR traded up $19.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $294.28. The company had a trading volume of 2,428,905 shares, compared to its average volume of 509,448. United Therapeutics Corporation has a 52-week low of $266.98 and a 52-week high of $417.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.49, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $298.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $314.07.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $6.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $6.80 by ($0.39). United Therapeutics had a return on equity of 18.73% and a net margin of 40.36%. The business had revenue of $798.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $802.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.85 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that United Therapeutics Corporation will post 24.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UTHR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on United Therapeutics from $350.00 to $330.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group dropped their price target on United Therapeutics from $410.00 to $385.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on United Therapeutics from $314.00 to $295.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on United Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $405.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded United Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, United Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $379.69.

United Therapeutics Company Profile

United Therapeutics Corporation, a biotechnology company, engages in the development and commercialization of products to address the unmet medical needs of patients with chronic and life-threatening diseases in the United States and internationally. The company offers Tyvaso DPI, an inhaled dry powder via pre-filled and single-use cartridges; Tyvaso, an inhaled solution via ultrasonic nebulizer; Remodulin (treprostinil) injection to treat patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) to diminish symptoms associated with exercise; Orenitram, a tablet dosage form of treprostinil, to delay disease progression and improve exercise capacity in PAH patients; and Adcirca, an oral PDE-5 inhibitor to enhance the exercise ability in PAH patients.